Italian chef and entrepreneur Enzo Rosano has opened his sixth Locanda restaurant within the Bay Space, and it’s his first in San Jose.
Locanda Ischia — all the names are adopted by a vacation spot — is positioned on the Lincoln Avenue restaurant row in Willow Glen. Ischia (pronounced ees-KEE-ah) is known as for an island off Naples.
Rosano and group took over and renovated the house that one other Italian restaurant, Vin Santo, had occupied for years. It’s now freshly painted and embellished in Amalfi Coast shades of blue and yellow,
Locanda Ischia, newly opened in Willow Glen, has been redecorated to evoke the Amalfi Coast. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
Supervisor-partner Annalisa Luongo, a Rosano niece, and chef Marcello Zasso got here right here from the Locanda Sorrento in Campbell. Each have roots within the Naples area.
Already, Luongo says, Willow Glen prospects have made the Improper Scarpariello entree a favourite. (Why fallacious? The unique hen recipe doesn’t have burrata just like the model right here.) The Carbonara Ravioli, a inventive spin with the carbonara elements encased in pasta, can also be successful.
“The idea is to be contemporary Italian but still keep the traditions,” she explains.
Chef Zasso has been including different progressive touches. His first two appetizer creations are supplied solely at this location.
This savory dish, known as Damaged Cannolo. options cannoli shells with recent ricotta, mortadella, .pistachio cream and pistachios. (Linda Zavoral/Bay Space Information Group)
One is Damaged Cannolo, a savory twist on the dessert during which Zasso trades candy components for ricotta, mortadella, pistachio cream and pistachios. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar completes the dish.
The opposite is the Zingarella, a riff on a sandwich well-known again in his house. Zasso grills focaccia, then tops it with prosciutto aged for twenty-four months, recent burrata, confit tomatoes and basil, with a contact of saffron aioli.
At Locanda Ischia, like the opposite eating places, numerous dishes share the household legacy: Mamma Carmella’s contact. Her recipes are showcased in Polpette Della Mamma and Lasagne Della Mamma.
Locanda Ischia is now open on Lincoln Avenue in San Jose. (Shae Hammond/Bay Space Information Group)
One in every of Carmella’s 9 youngsters, Rosano grew up cooking along with his mom in a city simply exterior Naples. He attended culinary faculty, then labored in Italy and London earlier than heading to California and moving into the restaurant enterprise.
For years, he’s been broadening his Bay Space restaurant empire at a speedy clip. In 2008, he opened Acqua Pazza in San Mateo.
Subsequent got here his “locanda” eateries primarily based on the Italian idea of hospitality. First there was Locanda Positano in San Carlos in 2011, then Locanda Ravello in Danville, a Positano transfer to Lafayette, a Locanda Amalfi in Pleasanton, a Locanda Wine Bar in Livermore, Locanda Sorrento in Campbell in 2022 and Locanda Capri in Brentwood in late 2023.
Particulars: Open six days per week at 4 p.m. for dinner (closed Mondays) at 1346 Lincoln Ave. San Jose; www.locandarestaurants.com
